"I am very thankful for IAPAC’s support of my campaign for the U.S. Senate. I look forward to working with the Iranian American community, in addition to Americans of all backgrounds and ancestries, to find common ground when it comes to civil liberties and issues of basic fairness that concern us all."

James “Jim” H. Webb is the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Virginia. Webb is descended principally from the Scotch-Irish settlers who came to this country from Northern Ireland in the 18th century and became pioneers in the mountains of Southwest Virginia.

A graduate of the Naval Academy, Webb was one of 18 in his class of 841 to receive the Superintendent's Commendation for outstanding leadership contributions while a midshipman. Graduating in l968 he chose a commission in the Marine Corps and served with the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. Webb spent the "Watergate years" as a student at the Georgetown University Law Center, arriving in 1972, and receiving his J.D. in l975.

Webb has written six best-selling novels, including Fields of Fire (1978), considered by many to be the classic novel of the Vietnam War. He has taught literature at the Naval Academy as their first visiting writer, has traveled worldwide as a journalist, and his PBS coverage of the U.S. Marines in Beirut earned him an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

In government, Jim served in the U.S. Congress as counsel to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from 1977 to 198l, becoming the first Vietnam veteran to serve as a full committee counsel in the Congress. In 1984 he was appointed the inaugural Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, where he traveled extensively in, and worked closely with, our NATO allies. As the Assistant Secretary he directed considerable research and analysis of the U.S. military's mobilization capabilities. In 1987 he became the first Naval Academy graduate in history to serve in the military and later be appointed Secretary of the Navy.

Webb understands the many challenges facing Americans today: an unpopular war, skyrocketing health care costs, a shrinking job market and rising inequality in society. He believes that solutions will be found using a progressive approach to policy that prioritizes fairness and justice.